An Ohio police officer filmed unleashing a police dog on an unarmed Black truck driver during a July 4 traffic stop has been fired. We speak with legal scholar Madalyn Wasilczuk, who has helped represent teenagers in Louisiana attacked by police dogs and who says that dogs do not receive the proper amount of scrutiny when used in policing. “They’re seen as these valorized K-9 cop heroes, and we don’t focus so much on the real violence that they do,” says Wasilczuk. “Videos like this really highlight the problems.” Wasilczuk explains that the use of police dogs in apprehension is part of a widespread pattern of racialized violence by police that dates back to slavery.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.